Dr.
Cantwell is a retired dermatologist. A full list of his
published scientific reports can be found at the PubMed
website. His books are available through Aries Rising
Press (www.ariesrisingpress.com) and also through
Amazon.com and Book Clearing House @ 1-800-431-1579.

E-mail: alancantwell@sbcglobal.net.

Why does the medical establishment ignore a century of research
pointing to tuberculosis-type "acid-fast" bacteria as the cause of
cancer?

TB-type bacteria can be
seen in specially-stained tissue sections of cancer tumors and
viewed under the highest magnification of the light microscope at a
magnification of 1000 times, under oil immersion.

So why isn't this simple
microscopic procedure performed in cancer?

As long ago as 1890, Scottish pathologist William Russell
discovered "a characteristic organism of cancer" in every cancer he
examined; and other pathologists of that era confirmed his findings.

Yet, a century ago,
the powers-that-be in medical science ignored this research and
declared emphatically that bacteria were not the cause of cancer.

The reasoning behind
this dictum was that cancer did not act like an infectious disease,
nor was it communicable. We know now this reasoning was false. Many
scientists believe viruses cause cancer; and sexually- transmitted
cancer-causing viruses can be passed from person-to-person as well.

For more than a half-century, the cancer microbe has been reported
as a pleomorphic, intermittently acid-fast bacterium closely related
to the acid-fast mycobacteria and to Mycobacterium tuberculosis, the
acid-fast microbe that causes tuberculosis (TB). The acid-fast stain
is a time-honored laboratory stain specifically used to detect
TB-type mycobacteria in tissue and in culture.

Virginia Livingston
M.D. (1906-1990) was the foremost proponent of the bacterial
cause of cancer. She was the first to discover that the
acid-fast stain was the key to the detection of the cancer germ,
both in tissue (in vivo) and in laboratory culture (in vitro).

Livingston, along with
microbiologist Eleanor Alexander- Jackson, cell cytologist
Irene Diller, and chemist and TB expert Florence Seibert,
all reported that the cancer germ was pleomorphic (meaning it has
various appearing growth forms) and was filterable, indicating that
in certain stages of its life cycle the microbe was virus-like and
submicroscopic.

Cancer microbes in vivo
are primarily in the cell-wall-deficient (CWD)
form. As a result of the loss of a cell wall, the bacteria appear as
round, coccus-like, granular forms that are found both within the
cell (intracellular) and outside the cell (extracellular). Various
types of bacteria may all look similar when in the CWD form.

In the body and in the
laboratory CWD bacteria (also known as "mycoplasma") have the
amazing capacity to enlarge in size.

These so-called round
"large bodies" can attain the size of red blood cells and even
larger. When seen in cancerous tissue these large bodies of bacteria
can resemble large spore forms of yeasts and fungi, perhaps
explaining why some researchers claim Candida and other fungi are
the cause of cancer.

Russell's nineteenth century "parasite of cancer" is now recognized
by pathologists as "Russell
bodies."

Pathologists generally
believe these large forms are "immunoglobulins" and they do not
accept them as microbial in origin. It is my contention that Russell
bodies represent large, variably-sized CWD forms of bacteria in
vivo; and that is why both coccal forms of CWD bacteria, as well as
Russell bodies, can both be identified in cancerous tissue.

As mentioned, bacteria
were excluded a century ago, and medical science never looked back.
The result was that any physician who persisted in cancer microbe
research was never taken seriously and was often viewed as a medical
pariah. There are less than a handful of living physicians in the
world who actively promote cancer microbe research.

Erik Enby is a 70
year-old Swedish physician, whose accomplishments are
cited in the Wikipedia.
Nevertheless, his medical license has recently been revoked by the
government for his belief in cancer-causing bacteria.

I am currently regarded
by the Wikipedia as a "conspiracy theorist in the field of cancer
microbiology."

Although largely ignored, the microbiology of cancer has a rich
history. Details of this research can be found in my books, The
Cancer Microbe, and Four Women Against Cancer: Bacteria,
Cancer, and the Origin of Life.

At present, doctors generally regard cancer-associated bacteria as
laboratory "contaminants" of no consequence, or as "secondary
invaders" of diseased tissue. However, cancer bacteria can be
observed in precancerous conditions and in areas distant from the
tumor. In general, microbiologists have been silent regarding
bacteria in cancer and some remain skeptical about bacterial
pleomorphism.

Over the past decade
British microbiologist Milton Wainwright has written
extensively about the history of the cancer microbe and his reports
are easily accessible on the Net.

In Current Trends in
Microbiology in 2006, he wrote:

"There are signs
that more consideration is being given towards the potential
role of non-virus microorganisms in cancer, a fact reflected in
the recent appearance of major reviews on the subject, and the
consideration of novel approaches such as the possible role of
nanobacteria in carcinogenesis.

It remains probable
however, that until the potential role of non-virus
microorganisms in carcinogenesis is taken seriously, and a
massive research effort is directed towards determining their
role in carcinogenesis, we will face another century when the
solution to the enigma of cancer may be staring us in the face,
only to remain ignored."

In retrospect, it was
premature and irrational a century ago to discard bacteria in cancer
because the science of bacteriology was in its infancy.

Nothing was known about
CWD forms and filterable virus-like forms of bacteria. The recent
acceptance (after a century) of bacteria (Helicobacter pylori) as
the cause of most stomach ulcers is a case in point.

For several decades
after his 1940 discovery of peculiar S-shaped bacteria in stomach
ulcers, A. Stone Freedberg MD stood alone.

His research was totally
ignored because doctors believed that bacteria could not exist in
the acid environment of the stomach. A half century later, these
same bacteria were finally accepted and are now a major factor in
the development of stomach cancer. Two Australian scientists (Barry
Marshall and Robin Warren) received a Nobel Prize in Medicine in
2005 for proving this.

Interestingly, in 1998,
a new tumor-like stomach lesion was discovered called "Russell body
gastritis."

In order to recognize CWD bacteria in cancer in vivo, one must know
what they look like. Physicians are taught that bacteria have a
certain fixed type of appearance. Most know little about the
pleomorphism of CWD bacteria, particularly the acid-fast
mycobacteria.

In TB the microscopic
appearance of the typical red- staining "acid-fast" rod-shaped
bacillus of M. tuberculosis is well-known.

However, the pleomorphic
CWD forms of M. tuberculosis and mycobacteria look entirely
different from the typical rod form. CWD forms in vivo appear
primarily as small, round coccal and granular forms. They stain
poorly, if at all, with the time-honored Gram stain for bacteria. In
addition, the routine stain (hematoxylin-eosin stain) used by
pathologists to diagnose cancer is not suitable to demonstrate CWD
bacteria.

To demonstrate the
typical red-staining rods of M. tuberculosis, an "acid-fast" stain
in required.

Likewise, in cancer an acid-fast stain is necessary. However, in
cancer it is almost impossible to find acid-fast rods typical of
mycobacteria. As a result of all this, CWD bacteria in cancer are
not recognized; and the large body forms are passed over as Russell
bodies of dubious significance.

Examples of the
microscopic appearance of intra- and extracellular cancer microbes
in acid-fast stained tissue sections (viewed at a magnification of
1000 times, in oil) are shown in,

breast cancer

lung cancer

Hodgkin's
disease (lymphoma)

Kaposi's sarcoma

AIDS-related
immunoblastic sarcoma

prostate cancer,

...in Figures 1-7 below.

Note that the
microscopic appearance of CWD bacteria in vivo appears similar in
various types of cancer, and consists primarily of small coccoid
forms, resembling the size and shape of ordinary staphylococci.

Fig 1

Tissue section of
breast cancer showing (in center) tightly-packed

intracellular coccoid
forms with some forms loosely attached to the cell.

Fig 2

Additional view of
breast cancer showing two areas (one below center and the other on
the right)

Tissue section of
fatal case of AIDS-related immunoblastic sarcoma of the face.

Three red-stained
typical acid- fast rods are seen in the center.

These forms are
extremely rare in cancer.

Mycobacterium
avium-intracellulare was cultured from the tumor

Fig 7

Tissue section from
prostate cancer showing a focus

of closely-knit
coccoid forms as well as scattered forms.

Can the cancer microbe be seen in diseases other than cancer?

Further complicating the
bacteriology of cancer is the observation that similar-appearing
microbes can be seen in vivo in certain chronic diseases, such as
lupus, scleroderma, sarcoidosis, and others.

Livingston claimed that
all human beings carried cancer microbes; and she postulated these
microbes were closely connected with the origin of life. In the
healthy state these microbes caused no harm and were beneficial.
However, when the immune system was weakened, these bacteria were
capable of inducing a variety of human illnesses, including cancer.

CWD bacteria may prove
to be the cause of many illnesses currently regarded as "of unknown
etiology." Because submicroscopic forms of CWD bacteria are
virus-sized, they may be confused with ordinary viruses. CWD
bacteria are also resistant to antibiotics and are difficult (if not
impossible) to eradicate or subdue, at least in the current state of
our knowledge.

Are these microbes the true cause of cancer?

Although bacteria can be
identified in cancer, there are obviously other well-known factors
that can induce cancer, such as sunlight in skin cancer, smoking in
lung cancer, radiation-induced cancer, etc. But in each case it may
require these ever-present bacteria to induce the cellular changes
of cancer.

The demonstration that
these microbes are found within the cell and even within the nucleus
(as shown by Irene Diller) indicates that these agents may access
the genetic material of the cell, thereby transforming the cell to a
cancerous state. In this respect, CWD forms may act like viruses.

Studies by Douglas
Robinson MD show that bacteria (like viruses) may swap genes
back and forth between the infected cell and the microbe.

If cancer is finally accepted as an infection with bacteria it could
explain why some people develop two or more different kinds of
cancer in their lifetime. At present, physicians believe each type
of cancer is different, each requiring its own special type of
treatment. Because physicians do not believe in the existence of a
cancer microbe, there has been no therapy devised to treat this
infection.

In my view, Virginia
Livingston's greatest contribution was her observation that the
microbe could be detected in all cancers in vivo with an acid-fast
stain.

Only when physicians
learn to recognizeand accept these
infectious bacteria in cancer can we begin to design appropriate
therapies against them.